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3 Things Church Planters Tend to Neglect
What are some of those spiritual things that planters tend to neglect but should make sure they don’t?
Church planting is a whole mood.
When a new church finally launches, so does the church planter! A maelstrom of multi-tasks (if they weren’t already in motion) descends in quick succession, and they are all necessary (and usually good) things. But the urgency that comes with planning a weekly church service, preparing weekly sermons, connecting with new congregants, developing new leaders, and attending to finances, etc., means that some all-important spiritual things can begin to take a back seat amidst the all-consuming busyness.
So, what are some of those spiritual things that planters tend to neglect but should make sure they don’t? Here are three:
1. Your Habits
When I say “habits,” I mean those daily spiritual disciplines that can feel very hard to settle into when you have a pressing, pastoral to-do list staring you in the face at 7 a.m. But what a planter (ok, all of us) needs to remember is that our serving is not coming from a vacuum. It comes from a heart that is being shaped and formed by something. So, before we get to that to-do list, we need to first place importance and value on the kind of heart that’s going to accomplish that to-do list. If not, we will easily slide into the work of Martha from Luke 10, who was “worried and upset about many things” (v. 41), but neglected the “one thing” that was necessary, which was “sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to what he said” (v. 39).
It’s not that doing the work of serving was unnecessary; it was simply that Martha got the order wrong, and her sister Mary had her priorities in the right order. Neglecting our spiritual habits leads to doing the work of ministry with frantic hearts.
2. Your Relationships
Many planters develop an over-focus on their churches to the point that their relationships begin to suffer immensely. I always find it so intriguing that the work of the pastor, which is incredibly relational and others-oriented by nature, is so hard on relationships! But a pastor’s personal relationships are a matter of wisdom and priorities.
Let me be direct: your church plant is not the most important thing in your life. So, to neglect something as life-giving, soul-enriching, and heart-forming as relationships (marriage, family, friendships) means you are believing that your vocation has the power to provide you with something that only your relationships can.
Now, I am not saying that the work of the church does not provide you with value! What I am saying is that it cannot provide you with the kind of richness that only relationships can provide! Again, the story of Martha and Mary gives us sound wisdom here.
Mary spends time with Jesus before serving Jesus. It doesn’t say anywhere that Mary doesn’t value serving Jesus in the kitchen with Martha. What Mary shows us is that she prioritized her relationship with Jesus, which included spending time at his feet, listening to his words, and getting to know him more deeply. Let’s not fool ourselves. Let’s not think that serving Jesus comes at the exclusion of spending time with Jesus and the people we are closest to. We will be all the poorer for it, and so will our people.
3. Your Sabbath
In recent years, we have seen a healthy return to the importance of taking a sabbath day. For the planter, a sabbath day is not merely a “day off.” It’s a day to experience rest and renewal, while being reminded of some gracious truths concerning both ourselves and God.
- We are reminded of our limitations, and that they are a gift from God
- We are reminded that when we close our laptops, it’s an opportunity to trust God
- We are reminded that our identity isn’t derived from our work, but from being image bearers of God
These are just a few reminders that help bring us into places of renewal as we obey the Lord’s good command to take a day of rest. To neglect such a gift is like building a dam across the stream of God’s grace when it should be flowing into your life. It’s also a practice that will pay dividends down the road. Most of the planters I know who faithfully keep a regular sabbath day know that regardless of how hard the week has been, they have established a rhythm that affords them another opportunity to experience some much needed rest and renewal.
Why neglect so great a gift?
